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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25279126">CITY BOY, COUNTRY BOY</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashpup/pseuds/trashpup'>trashpup</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>911, What's Your Emergency? [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, How Do I Tag, M/M, Mild Angst, Not Beta Read, TK also has ADHD, TK gets hurt, TK was abused by Alex and it shows, but it's not that bad don't worry, outdoor adventure course</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:07:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,290</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25279126</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashpup/pseuds/trashpup</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>PROMPT (from Kate in the Tarlos discord back in the beginning of June): Some of Carlos’ APD buddies and their significant others invite Carlos to do an outdoor adventure course with them. Carlos brings TK along. TK, he discovers, fucking loves to climb shit.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carlos Reyes/TK Strand</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>911, What's Your Emergency? [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663795</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>L O N E  S T A R</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>CITY BOY, COUNTRY BOY</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i liked the idea of this but i hate how i wrote it</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, TK?” Carlos sat next to TK after dinner on Thursday night, rubbing the back of his neck. TK looked up from his phone with a grin and a tilt of his head. “Um, I know this is kind of last minute but two of my APD friends are doing an outdoor adventure course this Saturday and they’re taking their significant others with them and they invited me. They said you could come too if you wanted but they weren’t sure if you’d want to go since you grew up in New York City.” </p>
<p>“I’d love to go! Plus, I’d get to meet some of your cop buddies not in handcuffs…” TK’s grin got a little bit wider as he flung his arms around Carlos’ neck and kissed him. Carlos breathed a sigh of relief and kissed TK back. “Do your cop buddies do know I have high angle training?” Carlos shook his head, seeing TK grin. “Don’t tell them.” </p>
<p>-- </p>
<p>Saturday morning came quickly and Carlos was woken up at seven sharp by TK shaking him awake, complaining about how they were going to be late. Carlos groaned and slowly opened his eyes, sitting up and stretching. TK was already dressed in one of his AFD t-shirts and a pair of shorts. He already had two cups of coffee ready, offering one to Carlos, who took it and downed half of it before he even attempted to stand up. </p>
<p>TK was in and out of the bedroom while Carlos got ready, chattering animatedly while he walked. Carlos was semi-grateful the walls in his house were somewhat thin, so he could still hear TK, even if he didn’t process and understand half of what he was saying. </p>
<p>“Hey, ’Los, are you ready?” TK shouted from the kitchen, not realising that Carlos was walking into the kitchen at that moment. Carlos groaned at the shout, startling TK in doing so. The cup that TK was holding smashed to the ground and both men stared at the broken glass. TK was the first to speak, “I’m so sorry, I should’ve been paying attention, I’ll buy you a new glass, I promise. Please don-”</p>
<p>“TK, baby, it’s okay, I shouldn’t have scared you. Stay right where you are, you aren’t wearing socks or shoes, let me come get you and then I’ll clean it up, okay?” Carlos replied, waiting for TK’s response. He knew TK was going to insist on cleaning it up since he broke it, but Carlos didn’t want him to think he had to do everything just because it’s what his exes wanted him to do. </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>The next twenty minutes were silent, save for occasional sniffs from the passenger seat where TK was holding back tears, unsure if Carlos was mad or not. Carlos wanted to make sure TK knew he wasn’t mad and wanted him to go back to being excited and cheery again, because silent TK always upset him. </p>
<p>“Hey, Tiger, mind if we pull over for a minute?” Carlos asked, still cruising down the freeway. TK made a noise that sounded like vague agreement and allowed Carlos to pull over onto the side of the road, his blinkers flashing. “TK, I need you to know that I’m not mad at you, I never was and I never will be. What happened in the kitchen this morning was entirely my fault. I’m sorry, baby.” </p>
<p>Carlos leaned over to TK and kissed his cheek, pulling back and looking at TK. TK looked back at him with teary eyes, unsure of what to do with Carlos’ apology. He thought he should be the one to apologise to Carlos, not the other way around. He accepted the apology nonetheless, and sat back in his seat, sniffling.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                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<p>“Now, do you want to go get coffee or something to eat before we go? We’ve still got about an hour and a half before we’re due to go adventuring,” Carlos rested his hand on top of TK’s, rubbing circles into his skin. </p>
<p>“Yeah, we can go get something to eat,” TK shrugged. He looked over at Carlos and gave him a little half smile before settling back in his seat, going back to staring out the window of the car. He continued to do it the entire ride to breakfast, then began to act normally once they reached his favourite diner. </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>As they ate breakfast, TK chatted with their server and Carlos happily about the day's activities and ate his incredibly sweet French toast, talking through mouthfuls. He kept his mood up when they left and was much happier when they got back in the car. He kept the conversation going the rest of the way there, then turned to Carlos as they pulled into the parking lot. </p>
<p>“What if your cop friends don’t like me or they think I’m weird and they don’t want to hang out with me?” TK chewed on his bottom lip, bringing one of his hands up to anxiously run through his hair, tugging at the back of it. Carlos parked in an open space and turned to TK, killing the ignition. </p>
<p>“If they don’t like you, that’s their loss and they aren’t my friends. Baby, it’ll be okay. If they decide they don’t want to hang out with you, then we’ll do the course by ourselves, okay? We don’t need them to have fun,” Carlos reassured TK, reaching around to release TK’s fingers from his hair before leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead. </p>
<p>TK took a deep breath and nodded, repeating what Carlos had said to himself. Carlos ran his fingers through TK’s hair before tapping his chest and getting his attention. </p>
<p>“Are you ready to go show a bunch of cops how fucking amazing you are?” Carlos grinned. TK returned the grin with a nod of his head, unbuckling his seat belt and opening the car door. He stood, bouncing on his heels, waiting for Carlos to come around to the other side of the car so they could walk in together. </p>
<p>“Have you ever been here, ’Los?” TK asked, looking over at Carlos just in time to see him shake his head. “Looks like fun!” TK mentioned, looking at the videos they had of people going through the course. There were tunnels that they would have to go through as well as unstable surfaces as well as tree and wall climbs. TK looked insanely happy, bouncing up and down on the soles of his feet now. Carlos smiled and grabbed TK’s hand, seeing TK about to walk off. </p>
<p>TK ended up dragging Carlos along, seeing someone with an APD t-shirt on. He had the same grin on his face that he had given Carlos. He waved to Carlos’ co-workers, getting their attention, and shouting “hi” to them. </p>
<p>“Reyes, hey! Is this the famous city boy that’s got you wrapped around his finger?” Carlos’ partner, Nora, joked, nudging Carlos in the side. TK blushed and ducked his head. </p>
<p>“Nora, Ray, this is TK Strand, he’s a firefighter with the 126. He moved down to Texas last year with his dad,” Carlos introduced TK to his coworkers. “TK, this is Nora and Ray, and their significant others, whom I haven’t met.”</p>
<p>“Howdy TK, I’m Ray, this is my wife, Theresa. It’s good to finally meet you. Carlos talks an awful lot about you,” Ray held out his hand to shake TK’s, but TK just stared at it, unsure if he wanted to shake hands with this man he’s never met. “Also, I hope you two don’t mind, our son is joining us as well, he’s gotta be about your ages, maybe a few years younger, he’ll be able to keep up with you better than I can.” </p>
<p>Ray seemed nice enough. Theresa had given TK a small smile and a wave, but hadn’t said anything. </p>
<p>“This is Charley, we haven’t got a child, so it’s just us,” Nora smiled and winked at TK. “I think we’ll be able to keep up with you guys, though.” TK smiled at Nora. He liked her better than Ray, he decided. </p>
<p>“Alright, city boy, it’s almost our turn to go, you think you can handle this?” Ray joked. TK looked at Carlos and then turned back around, averting his gaze. </p>
<p>“I don’t know, I might need someone to show me the ropes,” TK said, hiding a grin. Carlos squeezed his hand, effectively getting his attention away from Ray and back on him. </p>
<p>Ray’s son showed up a few seconds later, waving hello to his mom and dad, before turning around and introducing himself as Silas. He then turned to Nora and Charley and chatted with them more than with TK and Carlos - and they were grateful for that, they didn’t really want to talk to him. </p>
<p>The lobby area was quickly filling up with people that had just gotten done and TK was quickly becoming overstimulated with all the noise and people. He was clutching onto Carlos’ hand with all of his strength, silently and desperately pleading with Carlos to not leave him. Carlos squeezed his hand in return, leading him and the rest of their group to the check in counter where they had to fill out the liability and consent forms.  </p>
<p>Once they finished with that they moved onto the demonstration of how to put the harnesses on. TK took one look at the harness and moved it around before he was sliding it up his legs, tightening it in all the right places. Carlos kept his head down at Nora and Ray both looked over and mentioned how fast he did that. TK simply brushed it off, blushing. </p>
<p>“Alright, so, we do need to measure y’all just to make sure you can do the course alone. A staff member will always be nearby, but if you are under a certain height we have to run it with you,” a staff member in a bright blue shirt spoke to their small group. They were thankfully all tall enough to run the course by themselves, TK barely made the cutoff, but he remembered to stand up straight and get every inch in.</p>
<p>“Ready?” Carlos asked, giving TK’s hand a reassuring squeeze. TK nodded, excited to get to do something new and fun with Carlos. </p>
<p>“Can you go up the ladder first, babe? I don’t know if I’m gonna be okay to do it until you do it,” TK asked innocently, batting his eyelashes at Carlos. </p>
<p>Carlos was the only one that caught onto TK’s shenanigans, the cops and their significant others did not, they just thought that TK was a bit nervous of heights, and if you’d asked him ten years ago, he would’ve said yes, but he got over that fear pretty early on in the academy. </p>
<p>They made their way up the first ladder into the air, TK directly behind Carlos, staring up at his boyfriend’s ass as they climbed. Carlos had barely made it onto the platform before TK appeared directly behind him, a huge grin on his face. </p>
<p>“Will you behave?” Carlos smirked at TK, seeing the boy pout momentarily before realising that Carlos was joking. TK nodded obediently, making sure Carlos knew that he was one hundred percent going to act like a little shit through the entire course, especially if they weren’t going to stray far from the other cops. </p>
<p>Once everyone else had safely made it onto the platform, Carlos and TK took the lead onto the first obstacle, which was simple enough. They had to step on thin, wood pieces, held up by thick ropes. The steps were unstable, making it harder for them to walk across. TK anxiously waited until Carlos was halfway through to start lightly putting his weight onto each piece before he was quickly stepping through, a mischievous grin on his face. </p>
<p>They didn’t wait for the rest of their group to catch up. They were being timed and at the speed that Ray was moving, they wouldn’t make it through the entire course. TK switched spots with Carlos, going first on the next obstacles as they continued. </p>
<p>They spent most of the time laughing; then TK cut his leg open on a nail that was sticking out of one of the platforms. TK didn’t notice at first and when Carlos noticed, he made TK stop and sit down at the next platform. They waited for an employee to show up with a first aid kit and when she did, she attempted to help TK clean the wound. TK looked up at Carlos and silently pleaded with his boyfriend to <i>please make this idiot go away, she doesn’t know what she’s doing.</i> </p>
<p>“Thank you for your help, ma’am, but I think we can handle it from here,” Carlos said politely, smiling at the woman. He held out his hands for the woman to drop the first aid things into, but she hesitated.</p>
<p>“Sir, it’s protocol that a trained staff member handles any minor injuries,” she said, standing up to face Carlos. Her cheeks were tinged pink, blushing slightly.</p>
<p>“With all do respect, whatever ‘protocol’ your boss has,” TK paused and repositioned himself on the ground. “I believe it to be complete bullshit. The way that you’re trying to tend to my wound isn’t actually doing much of anything and my dog can do better than that. And, don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m an AEMT with the Austin Fire Department, so if you don’t mind, I’ll take that from you and you can go attempt to help some other person.” </p>
<p>TK snatched everything out of the woman’s hands and mumbled to himself while he cleaned and dressed the wound on his leg. Carlos stood behind him and gently carded his fingers through TK’s messy locks. He looked up at Carlos once he was finished and handed over the entire first aid kit, looking at it with disdain. </p>
<p>“Do you want to continue or do you want to head home and come do it when your leg is better?” Carlos asked, allowing TK enough space to stand up and test how the shoddy wrapping held up. TK shrugged and tested his attachment to make sure he was good to continue off to the next platform. Carlos shook his head in amusement, knowing TK was bound to go nonverbal at some point. He had talked to the employee and that had been a lot for him, so Carlos allowed TK to continue on without a fight. </p>
<p>He followed behind TK, looking up to see where TK was, spotting him ahead on the next obstacle already. He called out to his boyfriend, telling him to be patient and wait at the next platform. He looked back down to focus on where he was stepping, so when he arrived at the platform separating him and TK, he was surprised to see TK easily walking across the obstacle with little to no difficulty. </p>
<p>TK looked at Carlos and smiled and pointed behind them to see that Nora and Charley were quickly catching up with them. TK signed to Carlos that he wanted to wait for them, so they sat down on the platform bench and watched as Nora and her partner caught up to them, Carlos cheering to them when they got to the platform that he’d last completed.</p>
<p>“Hey it’s the city boy and the country boy, look who waited up for us, finally,” Nora said, playfully glaring at Carlos. Carlos held up his hands to defend himself.</p>
<p>“Try keeping up with someone that won’t even slow down for me,” Carlos joked, making sure that TK also knew it was a joke. “Man, he’s been kicking my ass this entire time. I’m pretty sure he’s cheating.” </p>
<p>“Are you serious? He looked so nervous when we first started!” Charley declared, grinning at TK, knowing it had been an act. TK flushed and looked down at his shoes, slightly uncomfortable with the looks. “Oh, shit dude, are you alright? What happened to your leg?” Charley had glanced down and saw the wrap around TK’s leg and was immediately concerned. </p>
<p>“There was a nail sticking out in one of the platforms and it nicked him, but he didn’t even notice,” Carlos supplied for his boyfriend, who had turned and looked longingly at the next platform down. “Alright, are you guys ready?” Nora and Charley both whooped, excited to see TK actually be TK on the course. </p>
<p>They all quickly moved past the next obstacles before they were face-to-face with a giant wall that they would have to get over with by using teamwork. TK stood in front of the wall, looking it up and down before coming to a conclusion and taking a running leap at the wall and parkouring up it, his hands gripping tightly to the top. </p>
<p>He hoisted himself over the top and found out that there was a small area that he could stand on and lean back over the other side and help Carlos up. It was still a competition to him, so he would not be helping Nora and Charley if they asked. TK held out his arms and motioned for Carlos to go ahead and climb up, jump, and grab onto his hands. Nora and Charley both stood and watched as TK pulled Carlos over the top of the wall. </p>
<p>“Holy shit!” Nora and Charley both exclaimed at the same time, mouths agape as they processed what TK had just done. Carlos looked extremely proud of his boyfriend, holding out his hand for a high five. </p>
<p>“You knew he could do this and you just let us be ignorant in the days leading up to this? You let me and Ray tell you that we were going to smoke your city boy since we grew up in the country,” Nora said, a pout clear on her face. </p>
<p>“I can do this in full PPE with a camera, radio, light, axe, and Halligan bar, this is a cakewalk,” TK mumbled, more to himself than to Nora and Charley. Carlos heard him and called down to his coworker. </p>
<p>“TK says this was a cakewalk, he can do this with an extra seventy-five pounds of gear on him and sometimes he has to carry people out of burning buildings,” Carlos laughed, ruffling TK’s hair. “That’s my boy, blowing everyone away with how amazing you truly are.” </p>
<p>TK slotted himself against his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, gently moving the harness out of the way so he could properly hug Carlos. Carlos gave him a quick kiss to his forehead before they moved off of the platform and went to get out of their harnesses and return them.</p>
<p>“I had fun today, thank you for inviting me,” TK yawned, worn out from the socialising and unusual form of exercise. “I didn’t realise how much fun climbing stuff was.” TK may have never noticed it, but Carlos watched him at the station or at home, he would constantly climb the ladder trucks and random things at home that absolutely should not be climbed.</p>
<p>As soon as they were in the car TK was passed out, the exhaustion hitting him a little harder than he thought it would’ve. Carlos drove them home in silence, except for the quiet snores from TK. He undressed TK and carefully took off the dressing from his injury and examined it, grateful that he got his basic EMT certification and wouldn’t have to wake up his boyfriend.</p>
<p>“Thank you for a wonderful day,” Carlos said, sitting in bed next to TK after applying clean dressings to the wound on his leg. TK gave a soft snore in return, making Carlos smile.</p>
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